The AFC have announced the pots to be used when the draw for the first group phase of qualifiers for the 2022 Men’s World Cup is held on WED 17 JUL 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Australia, China PR, Iran, Japan, Korea Rep, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are in the highest pot.

The pots are based upon the FIFA ranking of JUN 2019. The teams will be drawn into eight groups of five teams each. Each group will contain one team from each of the five pots. The teams in each group will play one another twice; the first placed teams, plus the top four second placed teams, will advance to the second group phase. These twelve teams will also earn automatic qualification to the 2023 Men’s Asian Cup.

Qatar, as host of the 2022 Men’s World Cup, qualify for the competition automatically but are taking part in the qualifiers in order to earn a place at the Men’s Asian Cup.

The winner of the preliminary series 2 between Macao and Sri Lanka will be placed in the fifth pot. The second leg of that series was not played after Macao refused to travel to Sri Lanka over security concerns. FIFA and the AFC are considering the matter.

• Pot 1: Australia, China PR, Iran, Japan, Korea Rep, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE
• Pot 2: Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyz Rep, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
• Pot 3: Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, India, Korea DPR, Palestine, Philippines, Tajikistan, Thailand
• Pot 4: Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Yemen
• Pot 5: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guam, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, [Winner Macao-Sri Lanka]